Administrative Core

CORE SUMMARY – ADMINISTRATIVE CORE The proposed Faculty Initiative for Improved Recruitment, Retention and Experience (FIIRRE) seeks to expand the diversity of our health sciences faculty and transform the culture, policies, and practices of the University of South Carolina (UofSC) to promote inclusive excellence. The Administrative Core, led by MPIs

Angela Liese from the Arnold School of Public Health and Coretta Jenerette from the College of Nursing, will ensure the full integration of all FIIRRE cores, drawing strong administrative, intellectual and fiscal support from our institutional leadership, Internal and External Advisory Councils and other core personnel. Serving as

the nucleus of FIIRRE at UofSC, the Administrative Core will: 1) provide the organizational structure, senior leadership, and infrastructure necessary to enable the success of all core goals, 2) oversee the administrative and financial operations of FIIRRE, including recruitment and retention of a cohort of ten new tenure-track

Assistant Professors who are committed to inclusive excellence and conduct health disparities and equity research, 3) advocate for FIIRRE and serve as a liaison to institutional leadership, funders and other stakeholders, and 4) identify and redress ways in which current policies and practices foster racial bias

and other forms of discrimination at all levels of the institution, including tenure and promotion. Our leaders are interwoven into key leadership positions and decision-making committees within the institution, enabling our team to introduce and help advance key policy and practice change recommendations from the “ground up”. In

addition, FIIRRE builds off the substantial institutional investments made towards inclusive excellence at UofSC in the past five years, including a Strategic Plan “A Path towards Excellence” that prioritizes diversity and inclusivity at all levels: executive, faculty, staff and student. Working closely with the Office of the Provost

and Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UofSC, as well as other FIRST awardees and the Coordination and Evaluation Center, the Administrative Core will organize and manage FIIRRE’s many distinct activities, processes and outreach efforts.